HTTP Graceful Shutdown TL;DR

In this episode of the Backend Engineering Show, Hussein Nasser walks you through why and how to shut down HTTP connections without causing chaos—freeing up resources, stopping bad actors, and letting in-flight requests finish cleanly. You’ll see how HTTP/1.1 uses the Connection header to signal a close, and why that simple handshake matters.

Then it’s off to HTTP/2, where you get introduced to the GOAWAY frame: how it works, its performance trade-offs, and why mastering it is key to building robust, scalable backends. By the end, you’ll know exactly when to pull the plug (gracefully, of course).

Watch on YouTube